MOSCOW/PARIS, August 15 (RIA Novosti) -...

Sovfrakht said the cargo ship was in the Atlantic near France"s La Rochelle port, citing data from the tracking device as of 12:30 Moscow time (08:30 GMT), but later added the signal had disappeared within an hour.

France"s Navy officials, however, said later on Saturday that they had no information on the ship"s current location.

The Maltese-flagged freighter, carrying timber and crewed by 15 Russian sailors, set off from Finland on July 23 and was due to arrive at the Algerian port of Bejaia on August 4.

The ship last made radio contact with British coastguards on July 28. According to Interpol the ship was briefly seized in the Swedish waters of the Baltic Sea by masked men claiming to be police on July 24. Reports state that after 12 hours the men left the ship and the Arctic Sea resumed its voyage.

Some media have speculated the ship could have been targeted because it was carrying an "unknown cargo" in addition to timber. The ship operator has called

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